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Alexa Ranking Dropping Like A Meteorite To Earth

Published February 18, 2013 | By Lisa

This Alexa Ranking Is Coming In For A Landing Like a Meteorite To Earth!

This blog’s Alexa ranking has been dropping fast like a meteroite down to earth.  Does a low Alexa ranking really mean much? Over the years I’ve looked at it. I’ve also done research on Alexa. I love using their website for the hottest news and trends of the day. But does the Alexa ranking do much for us bloggers?

alexa ranking

4 Things An Alexa Ranking Can Do For You:

  1. Gives Your Site Authority. Perception becomes reality – If your score is high or low, others may perceive your blog or websites popularity based on this ranking.
  2. Gives You Visibility to Other Bloggers / Companies – Some bloggers and companies look at this particular ranking. They do it to see if they want to advertise on your site. Bloggers may look at it to see if they want to do a guest post there or link to your blog.
  3. May Drive You More Traffic – If your Alexa ranking is low it may drive more traffic for you. It’s all about that perception. More traffic drives more traffic. Ironic, isn’t it? 
  4. Increase Page Rank – Will a lower ranking on Alexa increase your Google pagerank? That appears to be true in most cases but not all.

Top 5 Ranking Websites by Alexa Ranking:

  1. Google – No surprise there. Who doesn’t visit Google at least once per day? 
  2. Facebook – Amazing for 5 years time on the web and they are #2. 
  3. YouTube – No surprise either that this video website ranks low.
  4. Yahoo – Surprising they remain in the top 5. They have had many changes there at Yahoo over the years. Changes in content, ads and top brass.
  5. Baidu – China is getting on the bandwagon online.

Top Ranking Blogs by Alexa Ranking:

Blogspot #11 – Does this mean more blogs are made on blogspot?

WordPress #22 – WordPress sure has moved up in the rankings this past year. It’s popularity seems to continue to grow.

Tumblr #29 – Another blog platform that has become very popular. Tumbler now has over 50 million blogs!

Blogger #43 – Not sure the difference from blogspot – would you know?

Mashable #321 – They have a team of bloggers that update on the Social Media and Seo daily, no surprise they are so low in ranking. They are the #1 blog to come up in the top 500.

SeoMoz Blog #401 – Another team of bloggers that update daily and the #2 blog in the top 500.

Hubspot #861 – One of my favorites when I first started. They too have a team of bloggers that update almost daily.

ProBlogger #3,751 – Darren Rowse is a full time blogger and author. His blog is on the Genesis theme. (Thanks to Fabrizio for this one)

Matt Cutts #6,956  - Surprised Matt is not lower in this ranking.

John Chow #8,260  - Not surprised that John ranks this low. Who doesn’t know John in the blogging world? He has been blogging for at least 6 years. Read more on how he means business. (A great piece by Sapna at H4hitech blog)

Seth Godin - #9,153. Do we even count the master Seth Godin here? Seth is an author of 12 bestseller books that are translated into 33 different languages. He is a public speaker. He uses Typepad as his blog format. Nothing ususal about Seth. He is also the founder of Squidoo.

Basic Blog Tips #10,114 – Another team of bloggers blogging for Ms Ileane, a phenomenal site that I’ve seen grow in the 2 years I’ve been following them.

Traffic Generation Cafe by Ana Hoffman – #12,827 – Amazing for a one person blog. Ana can really drive traffic!

Don Caprio – #20,896 – The Geek’s Journal by Don Caprio. Don also has several guest posts and contributors on his blog.

All Tech Buzz – #24,819 – Owned by Imran Uddin with contributors and an editor. This tech blog ranks low too.

Inspire to Thrive rank

Inspire to Thrive  - 98,801. When I first started on blogger my alexa numbers were lower and then went back up to over 1 million on WordPress. Changing formats for your blog may change your Alexa ranking.  If you have time the wayback machine can be fun. Especially if you have made changes to your blog in the past. I’m curious if the average load time would be the same on other applications for page speed.

Most of the blogs that rank low have dual authors /contributors. The exceptions are John Chow, Seth Godin and  Ana Hoffman whose ranking is really amazing for a one person blog!

 

What Does Alexa Look For To Rank Your Blog Or Website?

Alexa started back in 1996. They wanted to share timely and relevant information about websites across the web. They have built a database about  websites, site statistics, related links and more. They use all of this data to come up with ranking numbers. You can check your Alexa rank via country or worldwide. The numbers above I used are for worldwide. You can also find all of your backlinks via Alexa. Some people have disputed their numbers over the years. I have found them to be relative, maybe not always perfect but pretty much on target.  They use the past 3 months of data to formulate their numbers.

7 Ways You Can Lower Your Alexa Ranking Yourself:

drop your alexa ranking

  1. Install the toolbar in your browser – Simple!
  2. Claim your  site on Alexa – Another simple step.
  3. Review other sites or blogs on Alexa. Some may return the favor. Don’t expect it! 
  4. Get listed in DMOZ Directory – Not easy at all. I’ve been trying for years with websites to no avail. Love to learn a trick on this one! 
  5. Update content regularly – If you are blogging this should be a no-brainer.
  6. Be sure your site has SEO incorporated into it. The right keywords can go a long way for you.
  7. Backlinks – The more quality backlinks you have the lower your rank should be. Those backlinks should come naturally via quality content.

 

Alexa Site Audits

You can also have Alexa do a site audit for you. There is a one time charge of $199 or a monthly fee of $149. The monthly will give you 2 reports per month. You can cancel at any time. The one time audit gives you one report now and another report in 30 days.  Their report will give you tips how to optimize your SEO and increase traffic. It will also let you know if you are providing a good experience for your readers. You can track your progress via the audits. I have not done one of these to date. I’d love to hear from someone who has.

Have you done anything to decrease your Alexa ranking for your blog or website?

Do you think Alexa rank is an important factor in overall traffic and rankings of your blog?

About

Helping Others to Thrive Online Through Social Media, Blogging and SEO. What good is knowledge if you cannot share it with others?
20+ years experience in marketing/advertising with 3 years experience blogging, social media and SEO.

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130 Responses to Alexa Ranking Dropping Like A Meteorite To Earth

  • Sapna says:
    February 18, 2013 at 5:55 am

    Hi Lisa

    Thanks a lot for the mention, means a lot to me.

    Coming on to the post, first thing which I did, when I started the blog I installed the Alexa toolbar. The reason which I read – it will help my blog and all others blogs/websites which I will browse using alexa plugin to move up the Alexa ranking. It has helped me a lot.

    #4 I have still to work on and infact I need to explore that.

    Thanks Lisa once again for the share.

    Sapna

    Reply
  • Fabrizio says:
    February 18, 2013 at 6:12 am

    Hi Lisa, that’s interesting because I stopped paying attention to Alexa traffic rank when mine went up in the clouds after Google Penguin late last year, but yes a low Alexa rank definitely gives the impression, especially to potential guest bloggers and advertisers an indication of how popular a blog is more or less. Just want to also add in your most popular blogs list is the almighty ProBlogger straight after Hubspot at 3,751 :) Have a great day.
    Fabrizio recently posted..Bloggers: Join Our Brand New Affiliate ProgramMy Profile (dofollow)

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  • mohammad ismail says:
    February 18, 2013 at 7:03 am

    This is really one of the awesome post. Very easily understandable and informative .. Come to the point, I really give voltage to Alexa. as due to Alexa I am getting advertiser.ive installed Alexa toolbar also in my browser :grin:
    mohammad ismail recently posted..9 Ways To Get More Readers Comments On Your BlogMy Profile

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  • Sire says:
    February 18, 2013 at 7:42 am

    I’m continually trying to improve my Alexa ranking, more so than my PR, because I feel it’s more achievable, that and Alexa isn’t as fickle as Google :razz:

    I’ve also noticed that having a half decent Alexa ranking does help some in getting more from advertisers when if comes down to getting an ad spot on one of my blogs.
    Sire recently posted..Review Of WP4FB2.0 Is It As Good As They SayMy Profile

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  • Harleena Singh says:
    February 18, 2013 at 8:10 am

    Informative post Lisa!

    Congratulations for scoring well on Alexa – all said and done it does feel nice – doesn’t it? :)

    I liked the way you mentioned all the scores – highs and lows of so many bloggers and their ranks. Yes, I too have the tool bar, but I now rarely take a look at it, though I know that it’s gradually dropping for me and so has the PR rank improved – I guess once you know all is well, you don’t worry much. :)

    Those are nice tips to lower the rank ourselves, though #4 and the Alexa audit are both new to me and I need to check them out. Thanks for sharing these tips with us. :)
    Harleena Singh recently posted..How to Change Your Life with KnowledgeMy Profile (dofollow)

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  • Sonia says:
    February 18, 2013 at 9:29 am

    My ranking has went up but that is because I haven’t posted late. My traffic however, tends to go up (go figure). I realized that when you don’t post content 2 to 3 times a week it will take a jump back to the clouds fast. For now it doesn’t bother me because I know what I have to do to get things back up and running again. It does however, provide a good lesson. Post new content consistently. I am getting back in the groove slowly, but it is a start. Good job on your stats Lisa!
    Sonia recently posted..Step by Step Guide to Build a Google Community GroupMy Profile

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  • Aaron Brinker says:
    February 18, 2013 at 10:12 am

    Lisa,

    I am listed in the DMOZ. The DMOZ still takes submissions and is a all volunteer service. It is the main reason it takes so long to get listed in the DMOZ. There are many categories in the DMOZ that has no one working them (which sucks but its true) One of the quickest ways to get listed is to check the area that your site is going to be listed and volunteer. You can’t just list your site though you will actually have to do a little bit of work too (but it will get you listed in the DMOZ real quick)

    Aaron Brinker aka DadBlunders
    Aaron Brinker recently posted..5 Ways To Be A Child AgainMy Profile

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  • Bren says:
    February 18, 2013 at 11:04 am

    Alexa who? haha I still haven’t dabbled in anything to do with Alexa ranks however I am intrigued. Might have to peek at it now. Thanks Lisa and congrats on your ranking!
    Bren recently posted..What Defines Your Role as a Woman?My Profile (dofollow)

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  • Khaja moin says:
    February 18, 2013 at 11:33 am

    Hi Lisa,
    I don`t think Alexa can increase PR or SERPs, but I agree that it attracts other bloggers and advertisers.
    Even though I know that Alexa ranking is not exact I still see Alexa ranking on other blogs just to get an idea about it`s traffic.

    ~@Khajamoin1
    Khaja moin recently posted..8 Best Alternative Sites for BuySellAdsMy Profile

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  • Mayura says:
    February 18, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    Hi Lisa,

    First off, let me say that this is a very thorough post about Alexa and lot to discuss here. Very informative indeed :)

    Who don’t care traffic to their blog? ;) We can find more insights about our traffic on Alexa. So far, I haven’t seen a popular blog being ranked in #127,567 or something. Alexa counts as a reliable source and marketers always do their math to find marketing opportunities as traffic is one of best factors they are rely on.

    I’d like to rephrase this one Lisa ~ “If your Alexa ranking is low it may drive more traffic for you”. If you are getting more traffic, obviously you can count on low traffic unless you jump on another domain lately. Alexa take each domain as an unique entity (Of course it is ;) ), so it takes time to restore traffic rank.

    Higher PageRank seems not related at first sight, but you have a good point Lisa :) It depends. Both PageRanks of Matt Cutts’ and Seth Godin’s blogs are same and yet their traffic ranks has no huge difference. One example never counts though. You know, PageRank comes through an algorithm, so it can vary sometimes. We see PageRank has a relationship with traffic rank, but we can’t build the formula between traffic and PR yet.

    Yahoo still on TOP? Oops…. I thought Microsoft is doing better though. Hmm… Their roots still up there ;) Oh Baidu… China don’t need more traffic from other countries, eh? ;) I’ve heard China gonna beat with Smartphone usage too. Let’s keep watchin’.

    blogspot means sub-domain Lisa :) All the free Blogger blogs hosted on blogspot sub-domain and people create more and more free blogs everyday. No wonder about that and Blogger is the official Blogger.com. WordPress has advantage there as it’s primary site is wordpress.com and free sub-domains are on wordpress.com too. If Blogger offered blogger sub-domain instead of blogspot, you won’t see two Blogger rankings there. WordPress includes free blog traffic of theirs too :)

    Well, you need to add Matt Cutts to single author blogs too ;)

    Oops… I have a question there Lisa. How does Alexa toolbar helps on driving traffic? :O

    I remember Matt Cutts talking about DMOZ. He said DMOZ doesn’t help on search rankings but if search engines can’t crawl the site, they take information fetched at DMOZ. Also mentioned usually sites in DMOZ are quality sites and as a human-edited directory, it can be trusted too.

    Gosh… We can talk all day about such stuff ;) Very thorough post and implies you had to do lot of research Lisa.

    Have a fantabulous week dear :)

    Cheers…
    Mayura recently posted..Download Your Instagram Photos with InstaportMy Profile (dofollow)

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    • Lisa says:
      February 18, 2013 at 1:31 pm

      Thanks Mayura. Wow, you put a lot of light on a few of the questions I had here. Good point about adding Matt to the single authors as I was just thinking Google there.
      I would have thought Bing would be higher than Yahoo too. I am pretty sure they may get there.
      With the Alexa Toolbar it is supposed to help your ranking each time you visit your sites and any sites you visit too. It may slow your browser down but not by much. It offers info too anytime you visit any website which can be very helpful.
      I may become an editor myself becuase I learned from an earlier comment that it helps to get you listed but you can’t review your own sites. After 3 years trying I may do it. It is in every SEO application I’ve seen. We could talk all day on this Mayura for sure :)
      Lisa recently posted..Alexa Ranking Dropping Like A Meteorite To EarthMy Profile (dofollow)

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  • Corina Ramos says:
    February 18, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    This is a great post Lisa. Thanks for sharing this info about the Alexa ranking. I didn’t understand the importance of this ranking but now that you’ve explained how this can help my site, I’m definitely paying more attention to it.

    Now that I have the toolbar installed I can see how I’m doing on a daily basis. Thankfully my rank has been dropping, which is an exciting thing to see, a great motivator.

    I hopped over to the DMOZ site and took a looksee but when I tried to submit my site the link they provide to do this is broken :(

    I’m not sure what you meant about claiming my site on Alexa, I’ll have to look into that and take that step – that’s why I love reading your post :)

    Hope you’re having a great day!

    Reply
  • Majharul Hossain says:
    February 18, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    You have done lots of research on Alexa. We all checking the Alexa rank daily but can anybody say that what rank is enough to be satisfied?

    ”blogger” is Google’s free blogging platefrom but ”bogspot” is Google’s free domain service. Who using custom domain on Google Blogging service, he actually using blogger. But who are in “www.xyz.blogspot.com” , he using blogspot.
    Majharul Hossain recently posted..Join relevant blogging community to get more quality traffic.My Profile

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  • Theresa Cahill says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:06 pm

    Found your post referenced (tweeted) by @MariSmith and happy to have found it.

    Question: No matter what firewall/antivirus I use (Kaspersky being my favorite) whenever I even attempt to install the Alexa toolbar right from Alexa, my computer goes nuts! It’s been quarantined, denied, etc., etc.

    I do have the Firefox addon SearchStatus (which I love). But as for Alexa’s bar itself… my system says “no way” and stops.
    Theresa Cahill recently posted..Warning | PayPal User Focuses Scam Hiding Behind eBayMy Profile

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  • Atish Ranjan says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:10 pm

    Good list here of sites. Alexa doesn’t matter for me as I can see that it can be false at times. however I have a fair alexa.. its around 23,500 but still I am not a great fond of alexa. however enjoyed reading the post.
    Atish Ranjan recently posted..Why Should You help the Newbie Bloggers?My Profile

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  • Adrienne says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:20 pm

    Hey Lisa,

    For the reasons you mentioned, Alexa is important. I mean we are viewed in other people’s eyes at times when they don’t have a clue who we are. It’s all about getting traffic to your site so the lower your blog the more consistent your traffic is which is very appealing to some advertisers.

    I don’t really pay that much attention to it anymore. I used to be fixated on it like a lot of people were but that was before I understood how it really worked and that no site is 100% accurate. With that being said, mine has remained low for awhile and it continues to drop. I guess if I had more guest bloggers write for me it would drop even lower but I like it just the way it is.

    Don’t worry about DMOZ, I’ve yet to make it there myself. Very hard to do too.

    Great share Lisa and enjoy your week.

    ~Adrienne
    Adrienne recently posted..Marketing Tips the Walking Dead Could Teach You about BloggingMy Profile

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  • Kathy says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:22 pm

    I am not exactly sure if the old basics hold true but it would seem so as my first blog Kathydobson.com on IM achieved a Google Page Rank score of 3 within just over a years time. The only thing I did on that blog was a lot of great content and many, many backlinks….commenting and blog hopping with the best!
    That’s what I was taught and guess what? It works.
    My newer blog liberatingdivineconsciousness.com has been struggling to get noticed by both Google and Alexa. But, we have no one to blame most likely because the one thing I have not been doing is commenting and get valuable backlinks.
    How important are these?
    I guess important enought that most of us look at them and are concerned when they don’t reflect what we feel they should.
    We knew something was amiss with Google when we were up for 6 months and still not getting a ranking although we did add great content.
    Backlinking must be the key element as that is the only difference between this blog and my others.

    Thanks for the reminders and opinions on Google and Alexa.
    Once again…I say just do the basics…hopefully that still works! ;)
    Kathy
    Kathy recently posted..You Are The Master AlchemistMy Profile

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  • Amit Verma says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    WOW Lisa, Such a great and so informative post you have shared. Love it a lot and so much to learn about Alexa how to lower ranking and get higher result in search results. I already installed the site widget on my blog.

    Thanks for your time and information on this post. Keep sharing the awesomeness. Have a great day.
    Amit Verma recently posted..4 Unsuspected Masters of Wisdom, Love & PatienceMy Profile

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  • Dan Black says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    I found your blog through a Tweet Mayura De Silva Tweeted and am glad I did :cool:

    Just this morning I had a few of my faithful blog readers write reviews of my blog on Alexa. They where happy to do me this favor.

    Great ways to lower a Alexa score. I plan on implementing them in the days to come.

    Reply
  • Lauren says:
    February 18, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    Thanks for breaking it down. Alexa has always been a mystery to me. Still, I installed the toolbar. My ranking isn’t bad for a personal blog. It always takes a hit if I don’t post for a week or more. I try not to stress over my numbers but inevitably do. I’m not doing everything I can to improve my standing. I’d rather focus on the creative side than the tech stuff.

    My Google rank recently lost ground. I went from a 4 to a 3. I don’t know what’s up with that. That upset me. I was proud of my 4. : (
    Lauren recently posted..Poetry 3.0 – How We Are Human by Luke ArmstrongMy Profile

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  • Brian Bader says:
    February 18, 2013 at 3:40 pm

    I was pleasantly surprised to see my alexa rank fall from 23,000,000 to 5,200,000 almost overnight after blogging for nearly 14 months.

    Still having a tough time making more than $20/month.

    Any ideas greatly appreciated! Http://lfmg.info

    Reply
  • Mitch Mitchell says:
    February 18, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    Lisa, you know I talked about this just before Christmas. My Alexa rank jumped drastically, almost 70,000 points, and only recently has it started coming down, but much slower than it went up. Not too happy about that but overall, I just keep plugging away, writing my posts, addressing the folks who stop by and living the good blogging life. I refuse to install the toolbar; now that’s another topic. lol
    Mitch Mitchell recently posted..Fussing About Guest Posters AgainMy Profile

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  • RobG says:
    February 18, 2013 at 4:31 pm

    Hello Lisa great post, this is the first time I’ve heard of this website all new to me I’ll have to check it out…Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
    RobG recently posted..How to Publish Weekly And Keep Your Readers Aroused And InterestedMy Profile

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  • Jens P. Berget says:
    February 18, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    I have never paid any attention to Alexa, even though I know that a lot of people do. But, lately, I have looked at my Alexa ranking because it comes up automatically in WebMeUp and my ranking has been dropping like a meteroite to earth as well :) I have no idea why, beause I’m getting more traffic than ever, and I even think that I’m doing a better job marketing my blog. On the other hand, I haven’t done anything to get a better ranking :)
    Jens P. Berget recently posted..Turning Pro – the journeyMy Profile

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  • Karen Woodham says:
    February 18, 2013 at 4:58 pm

    My Alexa rank was around the 52,000 mark for ages and then the end of last year it jumped to 88,000, no idea why, the only thing I changed was my theme, still posting in my same style etc, very bizarre.

    When it comes to DMOZ, I just gave up, nearly five years of trying was just a waste of time and does anyone actually care about DMOZ anymore!?
    Karen Woodham recently posted..Mrs Brown’s Boys Tour Is Coming To RhylMy Profile

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    • Lisa says:
      February 18, 2013 at 8:14 pm

      Karen, I bet it was the theme! Mine tanked going from Blogger to WordPress self hosted. I’m not giving up on DMOZ just yet, I may decide to become an editor like a previous commentor mentioned. (Aaron from Dad Blunders.) Interesting concept – volunteer and then you may get listed but of course you can’t list your own. Thanks Karen for coming by and commenting, appreciate the input.
      Lisa recently posted..Alexa Ranking Dropping Like A Meteorite To EarthMy Profile (dofollow)

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  • Ileane says:
    February 18, 2013 at 6:30 pm

    Go Lisa Go!!
    Once your Alexa Rank goes under 100k it will zoom past the other blogs even more quickly than it did in the past. Congrats!

    Thanks for the awesome shout out!!

    Reply
  • Theodore Nwangene says:
    February 18, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Hi Lisa,
    I also normally get confused at this alexa of a thing, the truth is, i don’t really know the benefits. But i know there must be something special about it because most people takes it so serious.

    However, I’m always happy whenever i see my own coming down knowing that its actually a sign of success. As of now, mine is 354050.

    Thanks a lot for such a wonderful post Lisa.
    Theodore Nwangene recently posted..10 Surefire Ways to Find Amazing Blog Post IdeasMy Profile

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    • Lisa says:
      February 18, 2013 at 8:17 pm

      You are welcome Theodore. It’s one of the subjects that many disagree on. I’m leaning towards it has some value and it’s worth watching as long as you don’t become obsessed over it. There are so many ranking factors today, it’s just one of many but one that some marketers and bloggers may look at before connecting or advertising with you. Thanks for coming by today. Enjoy the rest of your week.
      Lisa recently posted..Alexa Ranking Dropping Like A Meteorite To EarthMy Profile (dofollow)

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  • MrsGrapevine says:
    February 18, 2013 at 10:26 pm

    My pageviews are higher than before, yet I had better Alexa Ranking with less pageviews. It seems it’s more important to branch out of your niche. Keeping it consistent is my problem. :shock:
    MrsGrapevine recently posted..Jada Pinkett Smith’s Advice On “Blended Families” Goes ViralMy Profile

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  • Kita says:
    February 18, 2013 at 11:53 pm

    I have always been confused with Alexa rating I was told the higher the rating the worse it is. I didn’t understand so I stopped checking it. I will re take another look at it and really pay attention this time around with the info you gave.
    Kita recently posted..Happy Valentines from my heart to yoursMy Profile

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  • Cynthia says:
    February 19, 2013 at 3:01 am

    Hi Lisa,

    This is an awesome post. I will be honest I did not know what I needed Alexa. I actually installed it because I saw it on your site. I know I am a copy cat. (Sorry). I thought if you had it, it must be really important. I will admit that I look at it every day. I just wanted to get under a million. I have finally achieve that. I have noticed that my ranking has dropped a lot lately. I am not sure why as I am not really happy with the look of my site right now. When I updated my theme this week, it shows how many views my articles are getting so I am a little worried that maybe my Alexa ranking is a bit inaccurate.

    Reply
  • Disha says:
    February 19, 2013 at 4:46 am

    Hi Lisa, I have a website ! I used to check detail for my website on Alexa it was good reputation on Alexa.com but now when I check detail I show my website reputation low. ?

    Reply
  • Ellen M. Gregg says:
    February 19, 2013 at 7:07 am

    Okay, I think I just crawled out from under a fallen meteorite – maybe yours! lol :-) This is the first I’ve given any attention to Alexa. While I’d heard of it in passing, it meant nothing to me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some research to do. ;-)
    Ellen M. Gregg recently posted..10 Win-Win Calorie SwapsMy Profile

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  • Troy says:
    February 19, 2013 at 10:14 am

    Great article! Our rank is the most frustrating thing to figure out…its like a roller coaster. Cant figure out why it changes on a weekly basis. Thanks for the tips.

    Reply
  • Hoffman says:
    February 19, 2013 at 11:24 am

    I definitely think that the main strength/benefit of having low Alexa ranking is social proof and the immediate credibility it builds.

    If Alexa ranking is low, this blog must be popular, right?

    Great in depth overview, Lisa, and love your meteorite reference; definitely makes it catchy considering the latest events.

    Of course, thanks for the mention!
    Hoffman recently posted..Why Traffic Generation Cafe Runs on ThesisMy Profile

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  • Tim Bonner says:
    February 19, 2013 at 1:45 pm

    Hi Lisa

    I don’t check many things as much as I should, even Google Analytics! Terrible.

    My Alexa Ranking is currently sitting at around 160,000 and has been there for a while now.

    Truth be told, I have started looking into traffic, ranking etc.

    I’ve managed to get my blog on the first page of Google search and I pay more attention to Google Page Rank and Analytics more now than I did.

    It makes sense to try and do something about Alexa too though. I have the toolbar installed and I submitted my blog to DMOZ quite a while ago. No joy there though!

    Great post Lisa and something for me to think about more.
    Tim Bonner recently posted..HostGator Is My Web Host Of ChoiceMy Profile

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  • Susan Silver says:
    February 19, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    Just signed up for Alexa this week. I don’t know if it will really help to be listed there, but I don’t think it can hurt me at all. I figure since there is a space for it in Yoast’s SEO plugin, that it is probably something I should do!
    Susan Silver recently posted..How to Speak the Same Language as Your Customers with KeywordsMy Profile

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  • Joy Healey says:
    February 19, 2013 at 7:17 pm

    Thanks Lisa.

    That was interesting, although I knew a bit about Alexa I now know much more. Well done on your ranking.

    I tried to get onto DMOZ (for another site) – not a chance LOL!

    Joy
    Joy Healey recently posted..Backing Up Your Hosting Account – 3 LessonsMy Profile

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  • Barry Overstreet says:
    February 19, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    Hi Lisa,

    What a great post. You really did an excellent job of breaking Alexa down into terms that people can understand.

    I just happened to look at my Alexa ranking the other day out of the blue. When I entered my site, Alexa laughed at me and told me to come back in 6 months.

    Seriously, though, I agree with both you and Ana that it has a fairly profound impact on both credibility and revenue. People tend to follow others and this is just another example of the “everybody else likes it so it must be good” mentality. But, it’s part of the package and we just have to deal with it.

    I think I’ll be adding the toolbar to my computer and see what happens from there.

    Thanks for the great list. I hope you have an outstanding week!

    ~Barry
    Barry Overstreet recently posted..8 Step Blueprint To Choosing A Unique Selling PropositionMy Profile

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  • Mr. Real Estate says:
    February 20, 2013 at 1:19 am

    all are want to increase its beck links and here is much knowledge about offline SEO this tips very helpful my blog thanks for sharing…

    Reply
  • Sue Neal says:
    February 21, 2013 at 5:47 am

    Hi Lisa,

    Your score’s 89,163 today so you’ve shot up a bit since writing this post – maybe Alexa’s been listening in!

    This is very interesting – I installed the extension on my toolbar after reading Adrienne’s post about this a while back and I’ve just been pleased to see my ranking very slowly creeping up. I assume it’s just because I keep adding content and I’ve got a few backlinks from other bloggers. I did submit my site to DMOZ months ago, but I’ve not heard anything so I assume it’s not listed yet – like you, I’ve heard it’s like waiting for Christmas (only, unlike Christmas, it never comes!)

    I’ve heard a lot of people say Alexa rankings don’t mean anything, but I’m not sure I believe them – I don’t stress about it, but I guess I might get worried if my numbers started going in the wrong direction. I’m going to celebrate when I get below the 100,000 mark!

    Thanks for the tip about claiming your site on Alexa – I didn’t know about that so I must get on and do it.

    Another very informative post, Lisa, as ever – thank you!

    Sue
    Sue Neal recently posted..Why Blog Commenting Almost Drove Me Round the Bend (and how you can help…)My Profile

    Reply
    • Lisa says:
      February 21, 2013 at 6:13 am

      Hi Sue, I’ve been like you too and always read good and bad about Alexa. It’s a great website to do reseach on and it is pretty accurate though not 100% or sometimes lags behind as they need 3 months of data to gather their stats. Did you see thee earlier comment on DMOZ? You can volunteer there and they give you preference to get your site listed. Though you cannot rank your own site. (That’s a good thing!) I may try it soon. I wish I had 48 hours in a day. Thanks for coming by and for your input today – enjoy the rest of your day Sue!
      Lisa recently posted..Alexa Ranking Dropping Like A Meteorite To EarthMy Profile (dofollow)

      Reply
  • Sue Neal says:
    February 21, 2013 at 7:30 am

    I did indeed notice that comment, Lisa – discounted it because of the time issue, but maybe I should give that a re-think – as you say a 48 hour day would be nice!

    Sue
    Sue Neal recently posted..Why Blog Commenting Almost Drove Me Round the Bend (and how you can help…)My Profile

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  • elizabeth maness says:
    February 21, 2013 at 11:29 am

    Lisa, great article. I have worked trying to get and keep my Alexa under 100K in the first 90 days of my site’s start up. I used most of the things you said try but I did not get an Alexa site audit. I too would love to hear how that went for anyone. The Christmas season got my blog posting a bit off but I think I’ll get my site back under is a few weeks..;) Love to have you guest post about this if you are interested!
    elizabeth maness recently posted..The Top 3 Reasons Your Content Marketing Doesn’t Convert AnyoneMy Profile (dofollow)

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  • Yeremi Akpan says:
    February 21, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    Hey Lisa,
    Great job you have done to the subject…

    I am happy to see you are nose-diving as far as Alexa is concerned (this is one of the areas where to be low is to be high).

    While a lot of bloggers agree that Alexa Rank is just a vanity figure, I tend to lean to your augument that the perception it creates can predict success.

    I am nose diving here too. (Hope to make a Lowest Ranking List of Blogs within a year). ;)
    Yeremi Akpan recently posted..5 On-page Optimization Strategies to Rank for Difficult Keywords in 2013My Profile

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  • babanature says:
    February 21, 2013 at 5:16 pm

    Hello Lisa,
    You real killed the post with insightful points and i loved it. Alexa shows the credibility of a blog and how constant traffic flows in a blog. i got my alexa rank to where it is now in just 2 month without paid advert. all i did was applied you mentioned tips; by having the right amount of traffic, install alexa tool bar, get people to write reviews and also, made my presence in social media.
    I have not thought of submitting my blog to DMOZ and don’t think i will. and yes my ranking have brought me some sponsors over time and i feel it’s great and i am loving it ;) Thanks
    babanature recently posted..SEO and SMM: How to Understand the DifferenceMy Profile

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  • Justin says:
    February 21, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    Hi Lisa,
    I had my Alexa down to 79K World wide when my blog was about a year old. It’s easy to lower your ranking, you just have to create new backlinks everyday. I mainly did this by commenting on at least 10 different blogs a day that I never commented on before. I stopped commenting for several months about 8 months ago and then my Alexa started going up.

    I don’t worry about Alexa at all and I uninstalled the tool bar too.
    Justin recently posted..Understanding Your Subconscious Mind For Better ResultsMy Profile

    Reply
  • Maris King says:
    February 21, 2013 at 11:35 pm

    I don’t really pay much attention with the Alexa Rankings.
    What I worry much is when my traffic decreases. That’s kinda alarming to me.

    Reply
  • Imran says:
    February 22, 2013 at 5:22 am

    I used the toolbar for some months but it didn’t help.
    Imran recently posted..Amazing 360 Degree Panorama taken from Burj Khalifa DubaiMy Profile

    Reply
  • Praveen Rajarao says:
    February 22, 2013 at 10:46 am

    Lisa – This is an interesting post about lowering your alexa ranks. I wrote something similar a while back on DMC and I think you forgot to mention that even writing a post about alexa is bound to bring down your ranking :-)

    I did notice that happen to my blogs ranking after i wrote that article, it did come down considerably, but now again has crept up slowly, hovering around 150k now.

    However, the direction relation between alexa and google PR doesnt seem to be very true for my other blog. TechIVY has lowered its alexa very fast for a new blog, it is around 182k now but the PR is still 1(came down from 2 actually with the last update). So, am not sure what is happening out there.

    This was my article on the subject – http://www.dailymorningcoffee.com/how-to-enhance-my-alexa-ranking/

    Thanks for sharing.
    Praveen Rajarao recently posted..Waze – A Crowd-sourced Navigation AppMy Profile (dofollow)

    Reply
  • Weekend-Windup says:
    February 22, 2013 at 10:01 pm

    Interesting statistics, thanks for sharing.
    Weekend-Windup recently posted..Beat the Heat with Trendy ColoursMy Profile

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  • JanBierens says:
    February 23, 2013 at 1:19 am

    Hi Lisa,
    [Good title b.t.w., I was thinking "Lower? I wan to get higher!"].
    Anyways… Alexa has been around for a while and it seems to work as mysterious as any other ranking system. ‘Mine’ is around 192000 in the US now and that;s not bad for a blog that has been around (in it’s current form) for less than a year and based in The Netherlands…
    I guess my US targeting system seems to work alright! I just wonder how they do their demographic thing. How do they determine if a visitor is male or female…
    JanBierens recently posted..What is YOUR favorite post and what does that say about YOUMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lisa says:
      February 23, 2013 at 9:10 am

      The lower the better Jan :) I haven’t found out Jan if they know male from female, something else for me to check out, huh? Thanks for coming by and for your input as well. That is good for being based in the Netherlands. I may add that place for my bucket list to travel to.
      Lisa recently posted..eBook Rough and High Waves to CompletionMy Profile (dofollow)

      Reply
  • Tuan says:
    February 23, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    I just don’t care if Alexa is low or high. I check it once a month and fortunately it still remains at around 47k. :)
    Tuan recently posted..SONY announces PlayStation 4 at the February EventMy Profile

    Reply
  • Sarah Park says:
    February 23, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    I don’t really give too much attention to my Alexa ranking. I’ve learned so many things on this posr.

    Reply
  • Astro Gremlin says:
    February 23, 2013 at 4:01 pm

    Hi Lisa, last year I became obsessed with Alexa. I even wrote some blog articles about it and watched it like a hawk. At the time I had just gotten CommentLuv and was commenting like crazy. My Alexa ranking got better and better. It got as low as 129,000. Then I slacked off on commenting as much. My Alexa ranking began to deteriorate. My Alexa rank is now over 300,000. I don’t look at it these days. I love Alexa, though. Terrific tips for what keywords are hitting, opportunities for blog ideas, etc.. Alexa has even started giving me “Wayback” stats (not that I understand them!). Applied to DMOZ. years ago — still not listed as far as I can tell. I get a steady patter of about 50 hits a day, even when I don’t write more than a post a month. Old articles get hits from Google, some from SU (which can go nuts if a post is popular, but then dies off in a day). Alexa ranking doesn’t seem to correlate with traffic. But it is fun to comment a lot and watch it get better — gives you the sense of control and “doing something” positive.
    Astro Gremlin recently posted..Best Way To Teach a Child to Ride a BikeMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lisa says:
      February 24, 2013 at 4:33 am

      Hi Astro, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. Don’t you love CommentLuv? I sure do. Did you traffic drop off as well? Part of blogging is commenting these days. You are right about Alexa, the site does provide a wealth of data. SU is a tough one, I found it did not generate any targeted traffic and I incurred a high bounce rate from them. But Pinterest is great for more targeted traffic. I spend my time with that vs. Stumble Upon. Thanks for coming by.
      Lisa recently posted..eBook Rough and High Waves to CompletionMy Profile (dofollow)

      Reply
  • Kayla says:
    February 23, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    Interesting – there was a time a few years ago where you could charge an advertising rate for your site directly related to the Alexa ranking, however, I would say now this ranking is more “one of many” metrics that you can use as a measure.

    Reply
  • christina says:
    February 23, 2013 at 10:58 pm

    Awesome post – it helps that I’m an Off fan but I think we can all learn something from Ricky Gervais :)
    christina recently posted..A must know for bloggers and writers:My Profile

    Reply
  • Dawn says:
    February 25, 2013 at 2:43 pm

    Thank you for the reminder on Alexa! I used to be worried about my rankings when I was new to blogging, but then I had got discouraged back then. I put Alexa way on the back burner (actually forgot about it haha!)

    I will definitely be trying to increase my rankings again now. I was blogging more for fun, sharing knowledge (or well humor in our life) and hobby so it wasn’t something I thought about for a while after my initial Alexa obsession. Now that I started a new project for local businesses, it will be more for business and definitely worth implementing your steps here :)

    Oh yes and congrats – above in your post you had your Alexa ranking at 98k and today your badge says 89k – awesome :)
    Dawn recently posted..Slow Cooker Chili Your Kids Will LoveMy Profile

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  • Aayna says:
    February 26, 2013 at 6:30 am

    This post is loaded with crucial chunks of information. I was not that much aware about Alexa ranking, actually never perceived it as a significant thing. But I guess, it also holds great importance. Thanks for sharing this post and providing the readers like me with valuable stuff.

    Reply
  • Taswir Haider says:
    February 28, 2013 at 8:03 am

    I appreciate and agree to your points Lisa. Alexa rank also help to get more advertisers. By the way do you have any idea what might be the Alexa rank in between if you get 1000 visitors per day.
    Taswir Haider recently posted..15 Ways to get Penalized by GoogleMy Profile

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  • Allie says:
    March 1, 2013 at 5:20 pm

    Lisa,

    I have not paid any attention to Alexa in over a year. I went to check, thinking I should be good. NOPE! I rank around 94,000 in US!!! I almost cried! I cannot believe it! What did I do to get such a ranking! i have been blogging for a while now and have never done anything to upset Alexa. I have great backlinks, blah blah, all that.

    So I got the toolbar and I am doing reviews. Maybe mine will go down. So frustrating! Last year was a blow for my blog, I need to get my butt in gear and pay attention to my rankings again.

    Thanks for the Alexa heads up. :-)

    ~Allie
    Allie recently posted..Being Virtual Assistant: WAHM Making It In Transcription ServicesMy Profile

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    • Lisa says:
      March 1, 2013 at 7:37 pm

      That’s not so bad Allie, it’s under the 100,000. It’s only a piece of overall ranking so don’t cry :) I’d love to know if the toolbar makes a difference Allie. I’m not sure traffic makes a huge difference. My traffic is not huge. (I just double checked) It’s been holding steady. Thanks for coming by and have a nice weekend.
      Lisa recently posted..Can More Than One Blog Be One Too Many To Juggle?My Profile (dofollow)

      Reply
  • Tom says:
    March 2, 2013 at 7:48 am

    Hi Lisa! The Alexa ranking of my blog is dropping like a rock, but according to Google Analytics and Jetpack site stats (WordPress plugin) the traffic is rising.So, I don´t really know what to think :) Maybe Alexa is not so reliable.

    I used to look at my Alexa ranking and page rank to determine how well I am doing, but nowadays I don´t really care too much.I just try to write great content and participate in social media, blog commenting and so on.
    Tom recently posted..Work-at-Home Moms: Tips For Making Your Business Run SmoothlyMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lisa says:
      March 2, 2013 at 2:19 pm

      That’s right, the lower your Alexa the more traffic you should be getting. That’s the theory anyway. I don’t think it’s set in stone, because I haven’t seen traffic go up as much as the Alexa has gone done. Maybe because it’s the 3 month cycle though 0- I”ll have to check traffic for same 3 month period.
      Good content is #1 Tom. Thanks for coming by with your input today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend Tom.
      Lisa recently posted..Can More Than One Blog Be One Too Many To Juggle?My Profile (dofollow)

      Reply
  • Fatima says:
    March 3, 2013 at 5:24 pm

    I had heard about Alexa ranking but was not really familiar with it in real. Thanks for the informative post.

    Reply
  • Brian Bader says:
    March 9, 2013 at 5:14 am

    Thanks for the kind words LISA!

    Since I posted on this site my Alexa rating dropped from 5,200,000 to 2,400,000 in 3 weeks. Posting on other’s blogs really seemed to helped.

    Now I guess it’s turning the traffic into $$$

    It’s like a fulltime job lol!

    Wish you the best of luck in your ventures, and if you’d ever like to team up, or any of the viewers on here, I’d be more than willing to share the profits!

    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
    Brian Bader recently posted..Trade of the day: Weekly NFLX 190 PUTsMy Profile

    Reply
  • Adam says:
    March 31, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    Lisa, sorry I’m late to this one – luckily I caught it in your popular posts widget ;)

    I think too much focus has been put on Alexa rankings over the years and in reality it’s a metric that’s not as useful as we think for comparing traffic.

    From what I’ve experienced – above 100,000 it’s super unreliable and even below 100,000 it’s still pretty unreliable. (but that’s just in my experience).

    The problem is that it relies on the Alexa toolbar so websites in less web savvy niches tend to have much higher Alexa rankings.

    It’s also easily manipulated by spammers and bots.

    A good example is that there are two websites I run that get virtually the same amount of traffic on a day to day basis.

    One is in a web savvy niche and is around 186,000, the other is in a none web savvy niche at around 350,000. (both have been around for a few months each).

    Despite the second website getting occasional traffic spikes from big industry sites that can sometimes mean it will beat the other sites monthly traffic by more than double the Alexa ranking is still worlds apart.

    Personally I prefer Quantcast, but it relies on sites being “quantified” to really be all that effective.

    That being said, I do love to use Alexa for competitor research!

    Thanks for a great read, Lisa!
    Adam recently posted..Weekly Roundup: WordPress, Ana Hoffman Offending Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and MoreMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lisa says:
      April 1, 2013 at 6:57 am

      Hi Adam, yes I have seen what you are showing in your example. It is only one of many factors and it’s more the perception than the actual count, right? I have yet to try Quantcast, I will have to check into that one Adam, thanks for the tip. Alexa is great for reserach too but it sometimes is a little slow – behind the times, not actual up to the moment. I think they take 3 months worth of data so it could be 3 months behind. Thanks for coming to Inspire to Thrive Adam and have a great first week of April!
      Lisa recently posted..Link Shy After The Latest Google Panda WorkingsMy Profile (dofollow)

      Reply
  • lewis says:
    April 10, 2013 at 11:35 am

    i wonder why my alexa ranking keep increasing although i update my blog more than one entries per day?
    lewis recently posted..Maxis Broadband 4G LTE With The Fastest Data Transmission (75Mbps)My Profile

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  • Kevin Rosen says:
    April 24, 2013 at 5:11 pm

    I really appreciate the information you have provide here. I must admit, I have been hesitant in setting up our account with Alexa and using their toolbar, but after reading your post, and the following comments, I think its worth the try.

    Thanks again :grin:
    Kevin Rosen recently posted..Bourbon and Big Reds Come to Ruth’s Chris Steak House for Barbecue Event This MayMy Profile (dofollow)

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